Recently, so-called “hybrid modalities”, such as PET/CT, SPECT/CT, MR/PET and MR/SPECT, have become increasingly important in medical imaging. In this case,
PET stands for positron emission tomography,
CT stands for computed tomography,
SPECT stands for single photon emission computed tomography, and
MR stands for magnetic resonance tomography.
Advantageously, these combinations combine a modality having a high spatial resolution (in particular MR or CT) with a modality having high sensitivity (in particular, nuclear medicine, abbreviated NM in the following, such as SPECT or PET).
Already the appropriate preparation and conduct of the examination is important for an optimal diagnostic evaluation of data sets acquired in such a way.
Already established methods utilize a sequential recording of the two modalities. This also results in a sequential progression in the planning of the acquisition. For example, CT measurements and PET measurements are planned following one another.
However, for simultaneous acquisition of two modalities, as is possible for example in the case of the MR/PET hybrid modality, an option is desirable, which both increases usability and optimizes the quality of the results data.